The present invention relates to devices for scraping and delivering feed to livestock and, more specifically, to devices that allow delivery of feed to livestock in a controllable manner.
When feeding livestock, such as dairy cattle, it is desirous to feed the animals in a controlled manner. That is, the animals are fed daily at the same time and also given the same amount of feed for each specific feeding time. Controlling the amount of feed of the livestock results in a better and more consistent yield and production from the livestock. For instance, dairy farmers are able to receive a higher and more consistent yield from their cows by regulating the amount of feed the cows receive.
In today's larger farms, this is usually accomplished by feeding the animals through a feeding fence. The feeding fence separates the animals from the feed or fodder, whereby only the animals' heads and necks pass through openings in the fence to access the feed. The openings in the fence are designed not to allow an animal's entire body to pass through the openings. Consequently, as the animal eats from the feed pile, eventually the animal may not reach all of the feed for the feeding session.
Devices have been designed so that more feed will be accessible for the animals. Such devices include displaceable or moving feeding fences that allow the animals to access feed initially out of reach of the animals. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,054,430 and 5,433,172, and WO 97/33465 describe feeding fences that will move towards the feeding pile so that the livestock can access the feed pile. However, such structures require further cleaning of the feed storage area where the animals may walk on the feed storage area, especially as the fence moves. This could also be a health problem, since the livestock can track in manure and other contaminants onto the area where the feed is being stored.
Other devices, such as scrapers, have been utilized to move the feed closer to the feeding animals. The devices generally work by sliding along the floor with a chain-drive system or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,001 discloses a feed bunker that pushes the feed within the feed area towards a feed rail. However, these devices interfere with cleaning of the floor of the storage area, and the moving parts of such devices may also become easily clogged and inoperative due to the interaction with the feed or fodder, and such moving parts can lead to potential injury.
Prior art devices generally require either a moving wall or plow within the feed area to move toward the feed rail, or the feed rail to move towards the feed pile, which are relatively the same process. However, both of these styles of devices still leave room for improvement for accessing feed without contaminating the feed area or hindering the cleaning process for the feed area. A device that efficiently moves feed towards animals during feeding, without contaminating the feed storage area and that will further be in minimum contact with the floor of the storage area, is desired.